CHIPPENHAM reached the Bristol Combination Cup semi finals with victory at Keynsham.

The hosts kicked off and Chippenham immediately knocked on but their first scrum was impressive and they secured the ball to mount a very good spell, building play and steadily gaining territory through a series of phases, with the forwards recycling the ball for the backs to probe the Keynsham defence.

The gap soon opened up and winger Graham made a typical powerful direct run to open the scoring in the right corner.

The windy conditions drifted the conversion wide.

For the next 15 minutes or so the teams traded possession with Chippenham being camped almost entirely within the opposition half.

Keynsham tackled well to thwart several attacks, but even when they secured possession, they had little time to dwell on the ball under tireless Chippenham pressure.

Kicking to clear only conceded possession for Chippenham to come back and pin them in their own half, with full-back Davies tidying up well in the tricky conditions and countering well on a number of occasions.

The backs varied their moves well with Mackenzie and Waters making some typical powerful and evasive runs, and the forwards worked hard, with some good ball carrying by Broom and Hurring standing out.

Finally Chippenham got their rewards for persistency when they were awarded a penalty on the Keynsham 22.

A quick ‘tap-and-go’ by Hurring caught Keynsham too close and gained a further 10 metres.

The ensuing penalty saw the ball worked wide again to find Graham on the wing, some 10 metres out with work still to do.

His strength and determination saw him brush aside the attentions of at least three defenders and he stretched over the line as he was finally tackled to touch down and add the second after 20 minutes play.

Following the re-start Keynsham, to their credit, mounted a good attack and forced a penalty on the Chippenham 22.

They kicked to touch but then conceded a penalty which Gaunt cleared well to touch on half way and the break followed soon after.

Chippenham made several changes and the first five minutes of the second half were scrappy with several handling errors on both sides.

However, they soon found a rhythm and a good passage of play followed with the ball being moved well exploring both sides of the pitch.

Gaunt made a clever up-field kick, tacking advantage of the wind which was now in Chippenham’s favour, and Mackenzie was most unlucky to be penalised for being adjudged marginally off-side when he followed up well in a one-on-one race to try to finish off the move and touch down.

Chippenham could not convert their dominance in possession and territory into points.

The backs broke the line repeatedly but stout defending by Keynsham kept them out, with the pressure being relieved by Chippenham’s own handling errors or infringements when in good positions.

Keynsham were forced to kick repeatedly from within their own 22 to clear, only for Chippenham to gather in and mount a further attack.

After about 20 minutes Chippenham finally broke through courtesy of a very good high-lofted ball by Mackenzie which Keynsham fumbled.

They took the ball on with a series of rucks and mauls and prop Carter finally drove over from a couple of metres out to take the score to 15-0. Following the restart Chippenham came straight back up-field with some good work by Broom to 10 metres out.

Keynsham conceded a penalty and Gaunt, spotting space out to the right, executed a perfectly weighted cross-field kick which Graham took well under pressure and touched down. Waters converted well to extend the lead to 22-0.

Just when Keynsham had secured possession following the restart, a lightly weighted pass was anticipated well by Mackenzie who intercepted and ran in a further try from half way. Waters made a fine conversion from out wide and rounded off a solid victory.

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